Victoria, B.C. - Elections BC has started to prepare for implementation of the province’s 85 electoral districts following royal assent of Bill 19, the Electoral Districts Act.

 

The new electoral districts officially take effect on April 14, 2009, the day the writs are issued for the May 12, 2009 General Election.

 

Since nearly all of the boundaries have been changed, and new ones added, there is a lot of work on the horizon for Elections B.C.  

 

“The work is pain stakingly detailed,” says Chief Electoral Officer Harry Neufeld “For example, with new electoral districts we need to identify new voting areas with no more than 400 registered voters in each area.  Under the new electoral map, there will be approximately 10,000 voting areas province-wide.  Each of these areas must be carefully defined and mapped.”

 

It also means each address of those registered voters has to be entered into the revised voting area records.

 

The changes mean there are some temporary job opportunities, including Ft. St John, Vanderhoof, Burns Lake and 100 Mile House. “We invite interested persons to visit our website (www.elections.bc.ca) for further information on the job postings” says Neufeld.

 

The web site also has detailed maps of the new boundaries.